Fact Sheet

Contact: CDC National Center
for
Health Statistics
Office of Communication301-458-4800

Preliminary Births Data for 2004

A new report from CDCs National Center for Health Statistics summarizes
the 2004 birth data for the United States. Key findings show:

Number of births up; fertility rate up slightly in 2004. There
were 4.1 million births in 2004, nearly 1 percent more than in 2003. The
general fertility rate in 2004 was up slightly  66.3 live births per 1,000
women aged 15-44, compared to 66.1 live births per 1,000 women in 2003.

Childbearing by unmarried women reached a record high of almost 1.5
million births in 2004, up 4 percent from 2003. More than 4 in 5 births
to teenagers were among unmarried teens. Over half of births to women in
their early twenties and nearly 3 in 10 births to women aged 25-29 were to
unmarried women. The birth rate among unmarried women of all ages increased
3 percent from 2003 to 2004. In 2004, 35.7 percent of all births were to
unmarried women.

Teenage birth rates declined again in 2004, but at a much slower
pace than observed since the declines started after 1991. The birth
rate in 2004 for females aged 15-19 reached an all-time low of 41.2 births
per 1,000. This was 1 percent lower than in 2003 (41.6), and 33 percent
lower than the teen birth rate of 61.8 per 1,000 in 1991.

Childbearing by women in their early 20s showed a decline. The
birth rate for women aged 2024 years decreased 1 percent, to 101.8 births
per 1,000 women in 2004, the lowest rate ever reported. Women aged 25-29
had the highest U.S. birth rate of 115.5 per 1,000 births. This rate was
essentially unchanged from 2003.

Births to older women continue to increase. From 2003 to 2004,
the birth rate for women aged 3034 years increased slightly (less than 1
percent) while the rate for women aged 35-39 years rose by 4 percent. The
birth rate for women 4044 years increased 3 percent, to 9.0 per 1,000, and
the rate for women aged 4549 years increased in 2004 to 0.6 births per
1,000 women compared to 0.5 in 2003.

Preliminary Births for 2004 is available on the CDC website at
www.cdc.gov/nchs.